In bricks-and-mortar retail, a key number is the dollar amount of sales per square foot of usable store area. In retail stores, the average sales per square foot is $325 per year. Data from eMarketer and CoStar say Apple is America’s most productive retailer, with sales coming in at a whopping $5,546 per square foot.

That’s seventeen times the average of the average mall store.

Other notable performers include the legendary jeweler, Tiffany & Co, with sales of $2,951 per square foot and—perhaps surprisingly—gasoline/convenience store retailer Murphy USA, at $3,721 per square foot. These stores know how to satisfy their customers. But the champ is Apple, and one reason is because they take the time to find out, and deliver, what their customers crave.

The reason why Apple does such a great job in delivering amazing experiences to their customers was that they don’t place their customers in one monolithic bucket.

They go beyond the traditional idea of customer service to what I call human experience design.

When you go to the Apple store, the sales associate who greets you will politely probe you with a few innocuous questions. The purpose for these questions is to understand your persona—in other words, your expectations for your visit.

Are you a new customer who’s casually browsing?

An existing customer who wants to upgrade your device?

Looking for support or to get your device repaired?

Trying to find the perfect graduation gift for your child?

Are you focused on your mission, or do you want to be left alone?

Once they identify what you want to get from your visit, they will send you on a journey that has been perfectly invented just for you.

Generational Assumptions? No!

When the Apple sales associates talk to you, they don’t cloud their thinking with stupid preconceptions like, “This customer is a black-clad Gen-Xer, and therefore I need to treat him a certain way,” or, “This customer is a middle-aged woman wearing a power suit, and therefore I need to make certain assumptions about her.” To do so would be erroneous and unproductive.

Let’s go deeper into what individuals expect when they enter an Apple store. I’ll use my wife and myself as examples.

When I go to the Apple Store, my attitude is transactional. In traditional sales lingo, I’m an A-type, “driver” personality. I want to get my stuff and I want to get the hell out. The incredible folks at my local Apple store know me, so they give me a pathway that is swift and resistance free.

On the other hand, my wife likes being immersed in interpersonal dialogue and spending time fully understanding the purchase of her next incredible Apple technology. She therefore would be a B-type “amiable” customer, and not surprisingly the geniuses at Apple have created a beautiful experience just for her. They sit her comfortably at a table and spend all the time she needs to be indoctrinated in the religious order that is Apple.

By the way, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to be a customer. Every personality type has their strengths and weaknesses. A-type drivers can be decisive but foolishly impulsive. B-type amiables can seem indecisive, but once they’re comfortable and well informed they can be unerring in their correct choice.

The bottom line is simple: Both my wife and I leave the Apple store with the innovative gadget we wanted. It turns out Apple is the most profitable business and the most profitable retailer in the world because they take the time to understand the range of customers they serve and they have innovated a perfect journey for all customer types.

When I go to the Apple store, I feel like they respect me by taking the time to understand who I am and what I hate and what I love. That good feeling translates into incredible customer loyalty and trust.

That’s how they stay ahead of the competition—and how your company can too!